by Ian Carlos Campbell from Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics on (#6XGG0)
Whoop's new screen-less, fitness-focused Whoop MG wearable might have a major bug that can leave the device unusable, according to reports from Android Police and TechIssuesToday. Whoop launched the Whoop MG and Whoop 5.0 at the beginning of May, the company's first major hardware release since it launched the Whoop 4.0 in 2021.According to complaints on Whoop's community forums and X, after setting up a Whoop MG, the wearable can mysteriously became unresponsive hours later, refusing to connect to a smartphone even when it should be charged. "I wore it for about 20 hours or so, but then it suddenly disappeared from the app, no sensor lights on, nothing appearing in the app," one new Whoop MG owner shared on Reddit. On the company's forums, Whoop suggests trying things like charging the MG, reconnecting it to your phone or resetting the wearable to see if that fixes things. Whoop owners have also been directed to contact Whoop's Support team, and multiple faulty Whoop MG owners report that they're being sent replacement wearables.Whoop tells Engadget that reports of issues "[misrepresent] the overall performance and reliability of our new WHOOP devices." So far, problems with the new Whoop MG or Whoop 5.0 "are rare and isolated, impacting a small number of members." For members who have reported problems, Whoop says its "promptly replaced their devices. If a replacement takes more than a day to arrive, [Whoop] ensures the member is not charged for any time without a working device."Unlike other companies, Whoop doesn't expect customers to buy a fitness tracker and then pay a subscription; Whoop's subscription fee is inclusive of its hardware. With the Whoop 5.0 and Whoop MG, the company is also hoping to expand the number of metrics it tracks beyond just activity and sleep tracking to things like real-time stress monitoring and, in the case of the MG, blood pressure and ECG readings. What features you're able to access ultimately depends on both the wearable you have and the subscription you're paying for, though.Prior to this issue, Whoop was also caught denying free hardware upgrades to existing customers after previously suggesting it would send out new wearables to anyone who'd been a member for six months or more. Whoop reversed that decision a few days later.Update, May 24, 2025, 2:08PM ET: This post has been updated to include a statement from Whoop.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/one-of-whoops-new-wearables-has-a-bug-so-bad-the-company-is-issuing-replacements-201550971.html?src=rss